# Natalie Hudson *American attorney and jurist; chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, 2023–2026* Natalie E. Hudson (born January 13, 1957) is an American lawyer and judge. She was an associate justice of the [[Minnesota Supreme Court]] from 2015 to 2023 and its chief justice from 2023 to 2026.[^1] Each of her three judicial posts came through action by a [[governor]] of [[Minnesota]]. Governor [[Jesse Ventura]] appointed her to the [[Minnesota Court of Appeals]] in 2002. Governor [[Mark Dayton]] nominated her to the Supreme Court in 2015. Governor [[Tim Walz]] announced her elevation to chief justice in 2023.[^1] The record assembled for her is a biographical summary. It contains no filed case, agency finding, audit, or official statement by or about her, and it does not establish any position she took on a contested matter.[^1] ## Early life and education Her parents were Florence and Don Hudson.[^1] She finished her undergraduate degree at Arizona State University in 1979. She then enrolled at the [[University of Minnesota Law School]], where she was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper *Quaere*.[^1] She served on the Law Review staff in 1980–1981 and received her Juris Doctor in 1982.[^1] ## Career From 1982 to 1986 she was a staff attorney at Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, where she practiced housing law.[^1] She next joined the firm Robins, Zelle, Larson & Kaplan as an associate, working in general civil litigation and employment law.[^1] Hamline University School of Law employed her as assistant dean of student affairs from 1989 to 1992. She then served as a St. Paul city attorney from 1992 to 1994.[^1] She later joined the Office of the [[Minnesota Attorney General]] as an Assistant Attorney General. Her work there was chiefly in the criminal appeals and health licensing divisions.[^1] ### Judicial service On June 3, 2002, Governor Ventura named Hudson to an at-large seat on the Court of Appeals.[^1] Governor Dayton nominated her to the Supreme Court on August 18, 2015. She was to take the seat of [[Alan Page]] as of September 1; Page had turned 70, the court's mandatory retirement age, earlier that August.[^1] On August 23, 2023, Governor Walz announced that he would elevate Hudson to chief justice. The elevation followed Chief Justice [[Lorie Skjerven Gildea]]'s announced resignation, effective October 1, 2023.[^1] The summary gives 2026 as the end of her service as chief justice but does not state the date or manner of her departure.[^1] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Natalie E. Hudson, born January 13, 1957, an attorney and jurist.[^1] ### When - June 3, 2002: appointed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals by Governor Jesse Ventura.[^1] - August 18, 2015: nominated to the Minnesota Supreme Court by Governor Mark Dayton, effective September 1, 2015.[^1] - August 23, 2023: Governor Tim Walz announced her elevation to chief justice, following Chief Justice Gildea's resignation effective October 1, 2023.[^1] ### What - Associate justice, Minnesota Supreme Court, 2015–2023; chief justice, 2023–2026.[^1] ### How - Gubernatorial appointment to the Court of Appeals (2002), nomination to the Supreme Court (2015), and elevation to chief justice (2023).[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Natalie Hudson* (retrieved 2026-10-26, revision 1378183373) — birth date, education, pre-judicial career, and the 2002, 2015 and 2023 judicial appointments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Hudson